In June 2025, CADE’s Tribunal unanimously approved the acquisition of a hospital in the municipality of Cascavel, Paraná, by a health insurance provider. The approval of the merger, which involved solely vertical integration, was conditioned upon the fulfillment of behavioral remedies set forth in a settlement agreement valid for a period of 10 years.
The SG had initially recommended blocking the merger. According to the SG, due to the parties’ high market shares, the vertical integration between their activities could lead to market foreclosure in both the hospital and health insurance markets. The SG also argued that no structural remedies were possible, and behavioral remedies could have harmful collateral effects on the markets, leaving the transaction’s rejection as the only viable option.
While Reporting Commissioner Victor Fernandes acknowledged the foreclosure risks identified by the SG, he disagreed with its assessment regarding the ineffectiveness of behavioral remedies. Accordingly, by a unanimous decision, the transaction’s approval was contingent upon the fulfillment of an agreement establishing the following commitments by the parties, among others: (i) maintain existing contracts for 10 years; (ii) not discriminate against service providers and adopt standardized protocols and guidelines; (iii) refrain from implementing practices that result in beneficiaries being directed to their own hospitals; (iv) not acquire other hospitals in the municipality for 5 years; (v) invest in the acquired hospital; (vi) implement governance and compliance programs; (vii) adopt an open-door policy with CADE, allowing inspections by the authority; and (viii) hire a monitoring trustee for 5 years.
In May 2025, CADE’s Tribunal approved six settlement agreements with five companies under investigation in three ongoing cases involving the alleged exchange of sensitive information among human resources departments, including data on salaries and employee benefits.
The companies acknowledged their participation in the alleged conducts and cooperated with the authority by providing statements and/or documentary evidence. The settlements resulted in total pecuniary contributions exceeding BRL 103 million, with the largest individual payment surpassing BRL 43 million.
Meanwhile, the European Commission (“EC”) recently reached a similar settlement with two companies investigated for an alleged cartel in the online food delivery sector. In that case, the authority found that the companies had allegedly agreed (i) not to poach each other’s employees, (ii) to exchange competitively sensitive information, and (iii) to allocate markets geographically. The total fines imposed amounted to EUR 329 million. This was the EC’s first decision concerning an alleged labor market cartel.
In April 2025, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (“CADE”, in its Portuguese acronym) opened an investigation into the licensing practices of standard essential patents (“SEPs”) related to 5G technology.
The case, which was originated from a complaint by two mobile phone manufacturers against the SEPs holder, will investigate if the holder (i) failed to comply with its obligation to license the SEPs on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (“FRAND”) terms, and (ii) sought injunctive relief to block the sale of the claimants’ devices in Brazil, potentially excluding them from the market.
CADE’s General Superintendence (“SG”, in its Portuguese acronym) initially dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence of anti-competitive effects. The claimants subsequently appealed to CADE’s Tribunal. However, prior to CADE´s findings, the parties reached a private settlement, and the claimants petitioned to withdraw the appeal.
While CADE’s Tribunal granted the withdrawal, it concluded that CADE had the responsibility to continue the investigation, since the case raised matters of public interest beyond the private interests of the parties, including potential abuse of dominance, denial of access to an essential facility, and market concentration. Accordingly, the Tribunal unanimously ordered the opening of an administrative proceeding to further investigate the alleged conduct.
Within the international context, the White House issued an Executive Order signed by President Trump imposing an additional 40% reciprocal tariff on the imports of Brazilian products (which adds to the 10% tariff in place).
In recent months, the Foreign Trade Secretariat (“SECEX”, in its Portuguese acronym) has become more active in antidumping investigations, demonstrating a surge in Brazilian trade defense proceedings.
SECEX initiated anti-dumping investigations into the following Brazilian imports:
Additionally, SECEX issued a preliminary affirmative determination of dumping and injury to the domestic industry, with no recommendation of imposition of provisional duties, regarding the following Brazilian imports:
SECEX has also initiated sunset review proceedings concerning the anti-dumping duties applied to the Brazilian imports of:
Furthermore, SECEX has extended the deadline for the sunset review proceedings regarding the anti-dumping duties applied to the Brazilian imports of:
SECEX initiated the following other types of procedures or reviews related to anti-dumping duties in place:
The rise on trade defense activities within the Government of Brazil also reflects on the high number of final decisions taken by the Executive Management Committee (“GECEX”) of the Chamber for Foreign Trade (“CAMEX”) on original investigations and sunset reviews:
Denise Junqueira
djunqueira@cascione.com.br
Bernardo Leite
bleite@cascione.com.br
Maíra Rodrigues
mrodrigues@cascione.com.br
Brazilian Competition Case Law, Trade & Trends | July 2025